The Fraction Pie Rhythms activity connects your knowledge
of fractions and equivalency to musical notes and rhythms. Simply choose your fractions
and press play — your fractions will transform into a musical composition you
can see and hear! You can also change the time
signature, email rhythms to your friends, and select between four playing
sounds: 1) Taiko drums, 2) Clapping, 3) Orchestral Snare drum, and 4) the
sound of Water!

Here are the fractions for each musical note:

Fraction Note Description

A whole pie equals a whole note.
It will last four beats.

1/2 of a pie equals a half note. It will last two beats.

1/4 of a pie equals a quarter note. It will last one beat.

1/8 of a pie equals an eighth note. It will last a half of a beat.

1/16 of a pie equals a sixteenth note. It
will last a quarter of a beat.

In addition, we will use three dotted notes.
A dot placed after a note increases its value by one half.

Fraction Note Description

3/4 of a pie equals a dotted half note. It
will last three beats, since its value equals a half note
and a quarter note tied together.

3/8 of a pie equals a dotted quarter note. It
will last one and a half beats, since its value equals a
quarter note and an eighth note tied together.

3/16 of a pie equals a dotted eighth note. It
will last three quarters of a beat, since its value equals an eighth note
and a sixteenth note tied together..

How to play the Fractions Pies: Scroll down until to see the fraction
pies — they're near the bottom of the page. Click on one of the fraction pies. While holding your mouse down, drag the
fraction pie up to one of the lines and release the mouse button.
To remove a fraction pie, drag it off the line and release it. You can also change
a note into a
rest — the same duration of silence. To do this, just click on an orange fraction
pie.
It will change from orange to blue. Orange is a note, blue is a rest.
Continue adding fraction pies until the top line adds up to a whole pie, and the bottom line adds up to a whole pie.
Press the Play button and the fraction pies will start playing. Notice that the
fraction pies will not play until the pies on both lines are
full!